Democratic challenger John Kerry on Friday said the ideology and arrogance of the Bush administration had created gridlock in Iraq that made it "a lot tougher" for the United States to succeed there.
On the first anniversary of Saddam Hussein's fall, Iraq was in turmoil, with Sunni and Shia rebels battling US-led forces and holding several foreign hostages.
Fierce fighting has claimed the lives of at least three dozen Americans in Iraq since last weekend while, at home, television screens are filled with images of battlefield violence and bloodied US soldiers.
On a campaign swing through industrial states that have suffered significant job losses on Bush's watch, Kerry sought to focus on his economic agenda. But for the second consecutive day, he was side-tracked by questions about the deteriorating situation in Iraq.
"This administration has been grid-locked by its own ideology and its own arrogance," Kerry told about two dozen Democratic donors at a breakfast meeting. "Yes, we can succeed but, boy I tell you, it's a lot tougher."
Kerry said the United States now had three options in Iraq. The first - to continue along the same lines - would mean American troops would remain exposed, taxpayers would bear billions of dollars in costs and "we will go down a very dangerous road where the outcome is very difficult."
"Option two, you could just say 'okay, you guys don't want democracy? We'll see you. We're out of here.' Not acceptable, because nobody believes that we are better off with an Iraq that is unstable."
The third alternative - what Kerry called the "smart" approach - was to reach out boldly and clearly to the international community, explain their stake in not having a failed Iraq and give them real say in its transformation.